Help for Afghan refugees

Since the fall of Kabul, Afghanistan, on Aug. 15, some 38,000 Afghan refugees have been placed in communities across 46 U.S. states. Tens of thousands more are being housed on U.S. military bases, awaiting placement. 

These families have fled for their lives from the Taliban. Family members had been assisting U.S. forces in Afghanistan in numerous ways, including as translators, as well as working as humanitarian workers and women’s rights advocates. If they had not escaped, they would have lived in fear of retribution from conquering Taliban forces. 

The refugees have arrived with few possessions.

“We didn’t bring anything but ourselves,” one young male refugee told a Minnesota television station. “Everything was left behind. We just come in one pair of clothes and a pair of shoes – that’s it.” So far, 438 Afghan refugees have arrived in Minnesota, including many families with children.